01-05-2010, 06:17 PM
So China just put out a live version of Mulan starring one of my fav actresses, Vicky Zhao Wei. It's a sweeping period epic, the sort that China is specializing in right now: vast panoramic landscapes, ornate armor, battles with hundreds, if not thousands, of extras (extras are cheaper than CGI in China), artsy cinematography, mythic tales. If you haven't seen one of these yet, you really should. Now, I'm kind of numb to them. We last saw Zhao Wei in Painted Skin and Red Cliff, both of which she was a scene stealer extraordinaire. Here she was the lead.
In a nutshell, Mulan needed less crying and more ass kicking.
It's freakishly close to Disney's Mulan. The horse, her dad, some of her friends in the army, the almost busted bathing scene - there are lots of places where it's uncomfortably similar. The beginning and end were so much alike that I kept looking for Mushu and Cri-Kee. The middle is totally different. Mulan is outed much earlier, which is more loyal to the legend and works better (why can't those stupid soldier tell Mulan is a hot chick? She's even got eyeshadow on!) The Huns are wonderfully goth, decorated in bones and treachery. There's some great battle stuff, but not enough for my tastes (too much to share with Tara though). There's even the Huns on the ridge scene and an avalanche of sorts, although its actually a sirocco, but the effect is the same.
The film was a tad too Ashes of Time for me, too brooding, too many fade outs to white, which were glaringly harsh since most of the film is cast in earth tones with rich blue and purple costumes. I was hoping that it would go into some Mulan legends but no. There's this great legend of how Mulan defeats an army by tying lamps to goats and sending them on a mountain - the enemy is tricked into thinking Mulan's troops were scaling the mountain and expose themselves to her surprise attack. There are several great legends like this that remained unexplored. Instead, it dwells on how much is sucks to fight ruthless Mongol hordes that greatly outnumber your troops in the desert.
And Vicky, with her freakishly huge eyes, cries way too much. Mulan was not a crybaby. That so didn't work for me, even though I love Vicky and her big tearful eyes. She's way too weak for Mulan. As Mush would say, she spoils it all with her 'girly ways'. If you want to see Vicky as a powerful cross-dressing warrior, check out Red Cliff.
Note that my version only had Mandarin subtitles, and my Mandarin is super rusty, but I feel I got most of the story.
In a nutshell, Mulan needed less crying and more ass kicking.
It's freakishly close to Disney's Mulan. The horse, her dad, some of her friends in the army, the almost busted bathing scene - there are lots of places where it's uncomfortably similar. The beginning and end were so much alike that I kept looking for Mushu and Cri-Kee. The middle is totally different. Mulan is outed much earlier, which is more loyal to the legend and works better (why can't those stupid soldier tell Mulan is a hot chick? She's even got eyeshadow on!) The Huns are wonderfully goth, decorated in bones and treachery. There's some great battle stuff, but not enough for my tastes (too much to share with Tara though). There's even the Huns on the ridge scene and an avalanche of sorts, although its actually a sirocco, but the effect is the same.
The film was a tad too Ashes of Time for me, too brooding, too many fade outs to white, which were glaringly harsh since most of the film is cast in earth tones with rich blue and purple costumes. I was hoping that it would go into some Mulan legends but no. There's this great legend of how Mulan defeats an army by tying lamps to goats and sending them on a mountain - the enemy is tricked into thinking Mulan's troops were scaling the mountain and expose themselves to her surprise attack. There are several great legends like this that remained unexplored. Instead, it dwells on how much is sucks to fight ruthless Mongol hordes that greatly outnumber your troops in the desert.
And Vicky, with her freakishly huge eyes, cries way too much. Mulan was not a crybaby. That so didn't work for me, even though I love Vicky and her big tearful eyes. She's way too weak for Mulan. As Mush would say, she spoils it all with her 'girly ways'. If you want to see Vicky as a powerful cross-dressing warrior, check out Red Cliff.
Note that my version only had Mandarin subtitles, and my Mandarin is super rusty, but I feel I got most of the story.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse